What’s up bloggers! Do you know the most important religious precinct of the Incas? in this new blog we will talk about this very important topic, besides it is also a must-see tourist place that you should know in your visit to Cusco.
The coricancha was the most important temple of the imperial city of Cusco and the empire. In this place they worshiped their gods, made sacrifices, offered offerings and performed spiritual cleansings; its name comes from the Quechua word “Coricancha” which means temple or enclosure of gold, because according to the chroniclers mentioned that this place was full of gold, so much so that this area of the city shone like the sun and stood out for its beauty in its architecture of its smooth and thin walls a characteristic of their constructions for important places of the Incas.
HISTORY
Enclosure in the Inca Empire
In the beginning this place was already venerated by the first ethnic groups of the valley of Cusco, among them we have the Sahuasiras, Marcavalle, Antasayas, Huallas, among others; the name that probably had this religious enclosure in its beginnings was Waricancha, and vestiges of its existence we can find in the base of between the three walls of the exterior, in which it is differentiated by its rustic wall and very little worked.
After the arrival of the Incas to the valley of Cusco, the first ruler of the Incas called Manco Capac, took this place to live with his family, and named this enclosure called Inticancha, and it was from that moment that the future Inca rulers lived in this place.
Later after being considered ruler to the Inca Pachacuteq, it was he who changed all the rules and rebuilt this enclosure to be the most important temple of the city of Cusco, changing its name to Coricancha, and thus became part of the Inca religion.
Destruction of the Inca Temple
When the Spaniards arrived in the imperial city on November 15, 1533, they sacked and destroyed the temple and later, through the distribution of lots, it was given to the Spaniard Juan Pizarro and later donated to the Dominican order, where they began the construction of the church and the convent of Santo Domingo in 1538.
WHAT YOU CAN SEE INSIDE CORICANCHA
Apart from the vestiges of some Inca enclosures dedicated to their gods, you can also see paintings and colonial architecture:
Model of the church and convent
Enclosure of the rainbow
Open or water enclosure
Enclosure of the lightning
Model of Qoricancha in the Inca era
Colonial art gallery
Enclosure of Venus or the stars
The solar drum
The solar garden of Qoricancha
Enclosure of the moon
Plate of pachacuti salcamayhua
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